Had a chance to drive it pretty briefly this evening. Shop had replaced a front brake caliper that had sprung a leak. Couple observations.

It runs pretty well on the road. It feels to me like a points ignition carburated car that needs a tuneup, isn't as smooth as it could be all the time. Nothing terminal though by any stretch.

This transmission..
What put me off old Mercs years ago was the transmission, I'm still not overly fond of them.
This one shifted through the gears without flaring and what I think is appropriately solidly, kickdown worked. Reverse had the customary delay in engaging, 2-3 seconds, not excessive. What I did observe was in reverse, while releasing the brake it sort of shuddered moving slowly, and had a noticeable whine to it. Is this an old age thing with this moder trans? I know my later 123/126 trans did the delay into R thing and would whine some, this one was louder though. The solidity of the upshifts, though they were a little early in my opinion, makes me think it's solid enough, and is likely overdue fluid and strainer. Thoughts?
And while on the subject, how much grief is a manual trans swap, and how rare are they?

Otherwise it felt good, drove well, no odd clunks that I heard in a brief drive. Felt like a w123 with a huge steering wheel and a tad more body roll. And a worn out drives seat, which is no surprise. The odometer works, I could believe the miles but it don't really matter either way. It was running cool on the gauge, 150 or so maybe, it's getting a t-stat tomorrow. The carb needs tuning or a rebuild, I'm no stranger to carbs though it's been awhile, fast idle wasn't coming off, cruise was lean feeling, but it wasn't too bad.

Seriously considering, will sleep on it a few days.

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One more Radar Lover gone...
1982 VW Caddy diesel 406K 1.9L AAZ
1994 E320 195K